Category Archives: camping

About 10 miles from Julian Price lies a quaint town called Blowing Rock, North Carolina. This town, according to Captain Jim, was designed, created and populated to attract women. From it’s flower gardened main street to it’s many chic stores it does seem he has a point. We chose a perfectly comfortable, overcast day to stroll it’s main street. You will want to find one of their several free parking areas to stow away your vehicle as parking on the main street is at a premium. We found ample parking between their public pool and a very lovely park. A steep hike up some hidden steps and you are close to Main Street. You can walk from one end to the other quite comfortably, as it’s not very long.

There were many fascinating shops and storefronts. Myself, I’m not really a very girly-girl so the shops only really interest me from a “viewing” standpoint. I like to see all the interesting wares and what-nots. I love the architecture and did get to take some interesting shots of some of the buildings. I was drawn to one shop though, much to the detriment of my pocketbook. It was a lovely yarn shop named Unwound Yarn http://www.unwoundyarn.com/ I enjoyed perusing the many colorful and varied yarns. Even Jim and Kaelin found the different yarns to be interesting, noting the textures and varied softness. I did buy a wonderful kit to make a Christmas present for my oldest daughter. Of course, I can’t share what it is yet, but I can say it had 21 different colors!

Of course, when you stroll through little towns like this you do work up an appetite and this is when you search out restaurants that are unique to the area. We were drawn to Town Tavern http://www.towntavernbr.com/ and were fairly pleased. The food was mostly pub style food and spirits. It was a little pricey as probably most all restaurants and stores are in Blowing Rock. It had a neat atmosphere and I can imagine it gets to hopping on weekends and evenings.

Blowing Rock is definitely worth the stroll whether you are a shopper or not. And the area offers more than just the downtown shopping excursions. Not far from there is The Blowing Rock itself, which we visited last year. It is located off The Blueridge Parkway, a must do! And it is close to Boone. You cannot go wrong visiting this lovely area. For more information visit this link: https://blowingrock.com/

We used Passport America to find a campground near Mammoth Caves in Cave City, Ky. Singing Hills Campground http://www.singinghillsrvpark.com/ was fairly nice campground very near the many touristy attractions in the area. We were surprised at how many there were. However, we were there for the caves!

Singing Hills is run by a very nice couple. The wife, Beth Brown, we discovered was a retired teacher. We ended up chatting with her for quite some time as we cooled off from our excursions. She told me about a children’s book series, “Mrs. Piggle Wiggle” perfect for my first graders and introduced herself as the author of her own book, “Parenting is Rocket Science.” Listening to her stories about meeting Mr. Brown and raising their family were definitely uplifting. https://www.amazon.com/Parenting-Is-Rocket-Science/dp/0929540093

The campground sites are clean, but too close for Captain Jim and my comfort and very little shade. Shade was much needed as it was hot as Hades or the according to Jim, “the 4th level of Dante’s inferno!” We spent very little time outside; it just wasn’t possible.

We stayed 3 nights, but only because it was cheap (with the Passport America discount) and we would be going to the caves. It would have been too much trouble to find another campground.

Kaelin was happy with that decision because he could ride his bike and he even met a little boy he played with for short while. He also enjoyed that Mrs. Beth allowed him to take a couple of books with him. He’s now a fan of the “Warriors” book series.

I give Singing Hills a 3.5 rating. They really need some shade and cutting the grass would have been helpful. Also sites too close. I hate to give it such a low rating as the Brown’s are lovely people. Perhaps the cooler months?

Captain Jim would only give it a 3. He was not happy with not being able to hang out in the great outdoors. Of course, the heat was not the campground’s fault, but shade would have really helped that issue.

Just outside of Ft. Payne, Alabama lies a quiet and most pleasing campground. We found Little River Canyon Campground on the Passport America app. We had driven quite a ways and was ready for a break.

The campground wasn’t hard to find and was fairly close to Ft. Payne, which made day trips to town easy. Hardest part was some 6% grades downhill with some sharp curves.

We were fortunately met by the owner when we pulled up. Normally it is pay by honor system, but she was there helping someone else. Jim spoke to her telling her we wanted to use Passport America. She made him a deal he couldn’t refuse. We ended up getting a full week for $150 which broke down to approximately $21 a night (cheaper than Passport deal.)

We were so glad. This campground could be the model for all campgrounds. It was clean, had level sites, quiet and well maintained with beautiful landscaping all around. Some of the sites even had tomato plants. Others had daylillies, rock walls and lots of wildlife (frogs, lightening bugs). The sites were well spaced out and my favorite no blaring lights at night. I didn’t have to Bat Cave it (towels pinned to the windows). There was a pretty pond complete with ducks near the Back Forty. It does look like they are expanding further and we wish them luck on their continued endeavors.

There were many activities nearby that we ventured on but one of the most important was…..laundry! Being a camper can mean wearing outfits a few times in a row and Yuck! Their laundry was small, but clean and inexpensive. We were able to get it done and not have to endure a “commercial laundromat.”

Another plus was their WiFi, which was included. This was important as Kaelin is doing an online class this summer. Their signal was strong and took the worry off us. He was able to get a lot done.

Tim and Janet are a hardworking couple that apparently have day jobs, but that doesn’t stop them from updating the campground weekly. We admire what they have done with this little gem.

We went for the night and stayed the week and we’d do it all over again. This campground is a must visit!

We give this campground a resounding 5 stars. Again, we wish more would follow their formula.

After a great fail trying to get to Chief Ladiga campground Captain Jim used freecampsites.net and found Cherokee Rock Campgrounds (Alabama.) It wasn’t far from where we were and had promising reviews. Hmmm?

Although we did not encounter anymore Bridge Out signs we did have to endure a quite steep, narrow entrance road to the park. Once we got to the park our initial impression was quite positive. It was very clean with almost new pavilion and office. It was based on the honor system, however the prices did not match with what the website stated. The website and the envelope stated $10 a night, the sign stated $20. There were no maps to the campground and we had to just guess where to go.

As we drove through the park we could see tent camping along huge rock outcroppings. It was obvious this was strictly for tents only. We headed into the wooded area in search of RV camping. There were, I repeat, NO road signs! We ended up on a dead end and a dead end definitely means a dead end, NO TURN AROUND!!! Captain Jim had to back Betty and Bertha up in a narrow, crooked area.

We were, at this time, then met by the “Campground Host,” which then proceeded to help us back up and find a site. And they had to do this because NO SITES were MARKED! They got us into a site not too far from them. Was it a great site? NO. It was so unlevel that we had to pull out every leveling tool we could find and warned the Boy, NO Jumping!

I will give it this, it was quiet. No lights blaring in the window. Some campers came and went, but we have a feeling they were camping on the sly (coming after dark and leaving before sunrise.) I will admit we only paid the price that was marked on the envelope as this campground in no way warranted $20 per night price tag. There was no water, electric, sewer and trash was definitely not in walking distance.

The campground host sounded like he and his wife had been there quite a while. There were promises of future improvements, but it doesn’t seem like it has made it to the back forty of Cherokee Rock, including cutting the grass (which he said he was going to do the next day.) Funny thing was Jim said he’s pretty sure he was “cutting grass” just not the kind we wanted cut. He noticed quite a few “plants” in a tent on their site. Perhaps this was why the “host” seemed so happy to be there.

Now, don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t all bad. The rocks were amazing to walk through and climb on. They were massive and parts overlooked a beautiful valley. We were able to get some amazing photos, although we were disappointed that the sunrise did not cooperate with us. It was quite misleading.

I’m sure there was quite a lot of history there. It was a shame, however, to see so many of these beautiful wonders of nature defaced by senseless graffiti. Really people? Get a grip. This is not a chalkboard and nobody cares that you were there.

Overall, we feel that this campground was good for tent campers and young people as their sites set next to the valley or rocks, not nestled in the bug infested woods. We decided this was not a place to where we would back.

Captain Jim gives this place a 2 mostly because of the rocks if it were a day trip (no camping). If you are a tent camper and young it would get a 4 or 5. I agree with his conclusion.

Our stop in Midland, Georgia was precipitated by the use of Passport America. We had a mostly pleasant drive (except Columbus) through quiet State highways. We decided to stop at Lake Pines RV and Campground for some much-needed rest. The campground overall is very pleasant. It is fairly clean, however the sites are very close together. We were in sight 15 a corner site in the back of the campground. We found this much to our liking as there was very little traffic and the corner allowed us some privacy.

Due to the privacy and the temperate mornings we decided to stay more than one night. On our second day the temperatures were so comfortable we decided to cook out all day making our famous roast potatoes and carrots in the Dutch oven over a fire. Captain Jim got out the Panda and proceeded to do laundry in our little bathroom while we cooked the roast. He really enjoys using his Little Panda. All was going well until late in the evening when we decided to go for a swim and to dry clothes. Kaelin and I settled at the pool and Jim brought wet clothes to put in the dryer only to find out the dryers weren’t working. A woman swimming in the pool offered advice in going to a local laundromat. Captain Jim loaded up Bertha and headed towards said laundromat. The laundromat was clean and got the laundry done. Unfortunately, this and some very rude people at the laundromat did put a damper on the evening, but that’s life. Overall, the campground was okay.

I give the campground a 3.5. I could have done better if it had kept up with the laundromat, cleaned the pool better and wasn’t so close in space. It’s more of a city RV park rather than country.

We headed to Jonathan Dickinson State Park via 95 then in Jupiter switched over to the turnpike. Most of this trip was unevenful except that near Titusville we had a flat tire on the camper. I say flat but truthfully it didn’t go flat. The outer tread was stripped completely off the tire, hanging by a thread. Like peeling a banana. Jim says he’s never seen anything like it. Jim remained extremely calm in this situation. Me, I would have been cussing up a storm. Luckily we were able to get two new tires at a nearby Walmart. Jim wants to thank them for providing him with a large jack as we forgot to bring the hydraulic jack. $300 later and we were on our way.
It took a few more hours for us to arrive at Jonathan Dickinson State Park. This was definitely just a stop over spot as it was not a “comfortable” camping area. It was very open, no trees for shade. I’m sure there was things to enjoy further into the park but not at the camp ground. It did however, allow us to rest for the night. The trip to the Keys is a long trip and I would recommend this park if nothing else as a way to break the trip in half.

Last night we stopped at a county park campground in Bastom, Alabama, called Neal’s Landing. This campground was an unmarked almost free campground. We found it on the site https://freecampsites.net/. We had to use their directions because Google tried to take us somewhere else. That somewhere was an exercise in determination and patience for Capt. Jim as he had to turn the camper around in a tight space. He did well!

Neal’s Landing was very pretty with tall pines throughout, surrounded by a thick wooded wildlife management area. We chose a site next to the river although we could not get to the river from our site due to a steep embankment. There was a boat ramp further up. We chose not to put the canoe in as the river was fast moving. Kaelin had fun running through the campground. It would have been perfect for his trike however, a flat tire flattened those plans.

We had many sites to choose from as there was only the campground host as a neighbor. Quite empty. Although it was very pretty and cost us a whopping $5, we stayed only the one night. The biggest drawback, besides the relentless bugs, was NO WATER. Anywhere! This is truly some boondocking!! We did enjoy a very quiet, dark nights sleep.

This campground could be such a gem with a little more management. Add even just water spigots and you might increase the camper population.